Investing in internet for better TV

With the launch of its high-definition (HD) TV service earlier this year, a first for Malta, Melita has introduced a new concept that is set to change the way we have enjoyed TV until now. HD TV and high speed internet are the future of TV and Melita is investing heavily not just in new HD channels but also its internet network to sustain it.

Apart from three new HD channels in the pipeline, Melita is upgrading internet access for most of its customers this month and is planning to offer a whopping 100-megabit internet connection late next year, according to Ludolf Rasterhoff, chief operations officer at Melita.

“Internet and TV are converging. That is our strategy and that’s also how we make our investments. Over the last three to four months we spent more than €1 million upgrading our internet broadband network so that all congestions have been taken out and we have the capacity to increase speed. In November we are going to double the upload speeds for all of our five-megabit connections, the largest portion of our customers,” he told i-Tech in an interview.

“We have invested very much in our internet network and we are now able to give 50 megabits because consumers are going to want that. Again, it’s about the quality of the picture. They will want to watch movies, series, sports and other video content from the Internet on their TV screen. For customers to enjoy the same picture quality they are now used to, they will need at least 25 megabits of download speed. We expect that somewhere in the second half of 2011 we are going to upgrade our internet network so that it is capable to go up to speeds of 100 megabits.”

Mr Rasterhoff expressed his satisfaction at the take-up of Melita’s HD TV service, the first and the only one commercially available in Malta.

“We have a couple of thousand subscribers for Melita HD and next year we hope to hit the 10,000 mark. So that’s going well. We got a lot of feedback from customers during the FIFA World Cup and 82 per cent said they would recommend the service. They were really impressed with the picture quality and, more than we had expected, the PVR hard disk to record programmes for later viewing. Many people said this is really a great feature.”

The convergence of TV and internet is the next frontier in the evolution of TV and exciting developments are in the pipeline.

“For many years the TV world has not been so exciting. We had black and white TV, then colour TV and then came the flat screen but if you look at the changes you see they take a very long time. High-definition TV is a very big step. The next big step is the convergence of TV and internet and that is why we decided to give a set-top box that has an internet connection so the next step for us is to bring YouTube, Facebook, Netflix and this kind of services to the Melita HD netbox. This will happen somewhere in the second half of next year. Apart from watching the normal channels and using the PVR customers also get to use the internet and see the richness of the web with everything opening up for them.

“For us the business is getting more exciting. The big challenge is that the consumer wants to take control and wants to decide what to see, including internet on TV without having to connect to the internet on the computer.”

This convergence however will not kill other electronic devices. Melita’s chief operations officer does not think the HD set-top box will take the place of computers.

“I think these devices have different uses but all these devices will talk to each other in the future. But I do believe there are certain things you want to do on one screen and other things on another screen. You don’t want to read a book on a TV screen but on your iPad, or watch a movie on your iPhone but on your TV screen.”

In the meantime Melita has secured the rights of three new HD channels, which will be available soon. These are Sky News, the Food Network and ESPN Sports.

But for the local TV viewers, adding more HD channels is only part of the story. Access of internet through the HD set-top box will open new, endless possibilities.

“With internet there will abundance of content that you can access too. There will be movies, series, even football matches. Big players such as Google, Samsung and Sony are trying to do that. Today in the USA you can watch the NFL in HD quality on TV and on internet too. In time, UEFA is going that way too for sure and you will watch football on internet on your TV through the TV set-top box. And it would be perfectly legal,” added Mr Rasterhoff.

Asked about the next evolution of TV that is 3D TV, Melita’s chief operations officers was cautious.

“3D TV is very nice for kids’ content and for certain movies but we do believe it is going to take some time before it is in every household.”